Witness the unveiling of Countdown, a major global campaign to cut greenhouse gas emissions. TED has partnered with scientists, policy makers, organizations, activists and more to create an initiative that everyone in the world can be part of. Check out http://countdown.ted.com to learn how you can get involved — and help turn the tide on climate. [Note: there are two unusual features of this TED Talk. One, it's much longer than our normal, extending a full hour. Two, it's made up of contributions from more than a dozen people, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Al Gore, Katharine Hayhoe, Jimmy Kimmel and Yuval Noah Harari, among others. We're putting it out there because the topic deserves this kind of prominence.]

Witness the unveiling of Countdown, a major global campaign to cut greenhouse gas emissions. TED has partnered with scientists, policy makers, organizations, activists and more to create an initiative that everyone in the world can be part of. Check out http://countdown.ted.com to learn how you can get involved — and help turn the tide on climate. [Note: there are two unusual features of this TED Talk. One, it's much longer than our normal, extending a full hour. Two, it's made up of contributions from more than a dozen people, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Al Gore, Katharine Hayhoe, Jimmy Kimmel and Yuval Noah Harari, among others. We're putting it out there because the topic deserves this kind of prominence.]

Speaker:

Christiana Figueres and Chris Anderson

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[Citizens of the world]

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[We face a global crisisof unprecedented scale]

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[Please stand by for a message from ... ]

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[the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres]

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The climate emergencyis the defining crisis of our time.

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We are in a race against time,and we are losing.

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There is a growing tide of impatience,especially among young people,

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with global inaction.

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We need more ambition from all:

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governments, cities, businesses,investors and people everywhere.

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So I'm pleased you arelaunching TED Countdown.

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Your influence and ideascan help accelerate momentum

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for a carbon-neutral world by 2050.

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That is the only way to avertthe worst impacts of global heating.

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We have the tools, the scienceand the resources.

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Let us now get into this racewith political will and energy.

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To do anything less will be a betrayalof our entire human family

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and generations to come.

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Thank you.

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Announcer: And now, please welcome

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one of the architectsof the Paris Climate Agreement

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Christiana Figueres

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and the head of TED, Chris Anderson.

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(Applause)

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Chris Anderson: Welcome, welcome.

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Something remarkableis going to happen in the next hour.

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The world's singlemost alarming challenge,

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which looks something like this ...

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is about to go head-to-head

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with some of the world'smost amazing minds

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and courageous hearts,

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which look something like you.

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The extraordinary audience we havehere in New York and around the world.

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Christiana, it's quite the crowdwe get to hang out with this morning.

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Christiana Figueres:It sure is, no kidding.

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It's a good thingthat everyone is here together,

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because actually, this initiativethat we're just about to launch

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needs everyone to participate.

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And here it is.

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Countdown.

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CA: Countdown is a global initiativeto cut greenhouse gas emissions.

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It's seeking bold solutionsin five big areas,

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imagining what could be achieved

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if different groups broke outof their silos and acted together.

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Starting today, you can go tocountdown.ted.com

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and sign up to join the Countdown.

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Early in 2020,

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we'll be sharing planson how you can connect

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with others in your company,your city or your school

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to engage in this issue.

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It's all leading up to global gatherings

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on 10.10.2020.

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Everyone in the worldis invited to participate.

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CF: And so that's why,

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although I've been partof many initiatives along the years,

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I'm really excited about this one.

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Because Countdownis an invitation to everyone, everyone,

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to play their part in saving our planet

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and creating an exciting future.

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Politicians and citizens,

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CEOs and their customers,

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their employees, their investors,

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old and young,

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north and south.

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CA: (Laughs) I see what you did there.

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(Laughter)

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But look, our goal is not to plunge in

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with something new that is competitive

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with the amazing initiativesalready out there.

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No.

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It's to identify the best solutionsthat have already been worked on,

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to cross-fertilize them, to amplify them

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and then activate them

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by bringing togetherthese different groups.

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CF: And if that happens,

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we believe there is a way outof the climate crisis.

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That's what we want to facilitate.

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But now, Chris, question:

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Why are you and TEDinterested in participating

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and actually activatingthe climate agenda,

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when I thought you wereall about spreading ideas?

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CA: Well, indeed, that has beenour focused mission for the last 15 years,

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Ideas Worth Spreading.

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But last summer,

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we concluded that the urgencyof some issues,

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and especially climate,

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demanded that we try to do morethan just spread ideas,

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that we actually try to activate them.

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Now, we're just a relativelysmall nonprofit --

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that would not amount to anythingif we fail to bring other people on board.

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But the amazing thingis that that has happened.

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Everyone we've spoken to about thishas got excited about participating.

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And one of the key moments, frankly,was when you came on board, Christiana.

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I mean, you were keyto the Paris Agreement.

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And the world was stunnedat the consensus that emerged there.

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What was the key to creatingthat consensus?

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CF: I would say it was to really challengeand change people's assumption

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about what is possibleif we set a shared intention

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and then collectivelypursue it and achieve it.

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So our mantra then, and continues to be:

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"Impossible is not a fact,

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it's an attitude."

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In fact, only an attitude,

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and that is something we can change.

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CA: Well, that mantra, certainly,we're going to have to hold onto

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in the months ahead,

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because the scientific consensusis actually worsening.

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For a quick report from the front lines,

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here's the headof the thousands of scientists

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who make up the IPCC, Dr. Hoesung Lee.

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(Video) Hoesung Lee: We recently releasedthree special reports

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that show the damage and risksof past and future climate change.

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They also show that stabilizing climate

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would imply a drastic reductionin greenhouse gas emissions

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in the near term.

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Society will have to gothrough unprecedented changes

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to meet this goal.

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Even limiting warmingto 1.5 degrees Celsius

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will bring more extreme weather,

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rising sea levels

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and water shortages in some regions,

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and threats to food securityand biodiversity.

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Higher temperature will bringmore of these damages,

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threatening lives and livelihoods

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of millions of peopleall around the world.

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CA: We're lucky to have with usanother world-leading scientist,

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Johan Rockström here.

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He was responsible for creatingthe Planetary Boundaries framework.

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Johan, how serious is our situation?

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(Video) Johan Rockström: Last week,we released in "Nature"

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the 10-year update of the riskof crossing tipping points,

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irreversible tipping points,in the Earth system.

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We know 15 such tipping points,

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including the Greenlandand West Antarctic ice shelf,

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and the permafrostin the Siberian tundra, for example,

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and we today have observational evidence,

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I mean, empirical evidence,

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that nine of the 15 have woken upand are on the move.

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We haven't crossed the tipping point yet,

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the window is still open,

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but they are warning usthat now is the time to truly move,

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because the moment we cross them,

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like, for example, approachinga tipping point in the Amazon rain forest,

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we would risk losing the battle,

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because the planet will be taking overits self-reinforced warming.

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So that is why this initiativeis so incredibly important.

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Let's go.

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CA: Well said.

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(Applause)

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So, both are very clear therethat this agenda of cutting emissions

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is absolutely crucial.

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How has that been going?

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CF: Not very well,because despite what we know,

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despite everythingthat science has told us,

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despite everything that we have done,

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including adopting the Paris Agreement,

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we've actually been increasinggreenhouse gases consistently

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over the past few decades,

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to the point wherewe're now at 55 gigatons

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of carbon dioxide equivalent

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that we are collectively, as humanity,emitting every year.

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And as we have heard, we have one path,

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there is one paththat we have to follow, and that is:

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Start now to decrease emissions,

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instead of going up, go down --

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reverse the trend, bend the curve.

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Reduce emissions, starting in 2020,

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to the point where we will be at one halfthe current level of emissions by 2030,

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and then continue decreasing them,until we are at net zero by 2050.

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It's the only path that we can accept.

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CA: How do you even begin to starttackling a goal as daunting as that?

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CF: Well, we could starting by breaking

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the simple, yet daunting, challenge

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into its constituent pieces,

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five main areas.

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CA: And so these five togetherare actually all huge,

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and if we can find compellingsolutions in each of them,

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they would actually add upto an action plan

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that matches the scale of the problem.

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Well, here are the five.

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CF: Power.

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How rapidly can we moveto 100 percent clean energy?

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CA: The built environment.

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How can we re-engineerthe stuff that surrounds us?

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CF: Transport.

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How do we transform the wayswe move -- ourselves and goods?

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CA: Food.

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How can we spark a worldwide shiftto healthier food systems?

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CF: And certainly, nature.

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How extensively can we re-green the earth?

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Now, it's worth notingthat the answers to these questions

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and the measures that we would undertake

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don't just reduce net emissions --

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they do that, certainly,together, to zero --

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but they also point the way to a future

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that is much betterand genuinely exciting.

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So, think about coolnew forms of transport,

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clean air, healthier food,beautiful forests

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and oceans bursting with life.

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So, you know, solving the climate crisis

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isn't about sacrificingand settling for a mediocre future,

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it's about the exact opposite.

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It's about co-creatinga much better future for all of us.

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CA: So how do we tackle these questions?

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(Laughter)

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CA: Let's take this question hereand think about this.

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How extensively can we re-green the earth?

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I mean, there are obviouslymany responses to this question,

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many proposals.

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It's fundamentally about,

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"How do we increase the amountof sustainable photosynthesis

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on planet Earth."

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Photosynthesis sequesters carbon.

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There could be proposalsaround giant kelp forests or seagrass,

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or about forms of plantsthat have deeper roots

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and can sequester across the planet.

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But suppose a major proposal that came outwas about reforestation.

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A massive, global reforestation campaign.

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I mean, a single organization,no matter how big,

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cannot take that on.

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The key is for everyone to join forces,

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for governments (with zoning),

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businesses to invest,

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investors to do that investing,

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environmental groupsand philanthropists who support them,

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and just a massive movementamong citizens everywhere,

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transforming their lawns, their cities,their neighborhoods,

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going on trips together.

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That is where, suddenly,you can dream about something really big.

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CF: So can we test that theory?

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Because we are fortunateto have with us today

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someone who grew up insidea tree-planting movement,

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probably the most well-recognizedtree-planting movement.

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And she is the daughterof the Nobel Prize winner

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Wangari Maathai,

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and she heads up the Wangari MaathaiFoundation today.

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So can we invite our very dearfriend Wanjira Mathai?

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(Applause)

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(Video) Wanjira Mathai:Thank you very much,

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Christiana and Chris, for doing this.

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Trees have been, indeed, a part of my lifefor as long as I can remember,